


Live and Let Lion

by Toonfreak



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, Humor, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-09 09:04:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7795684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toonfreak/pseuds/Toonfreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody ever said having a pet lion would be easy. Perhaps Steven and his gem family should have thought this through before adopting the pink cat...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Info Isn't Lion

After regrettably agreeing to let Steven keep a gigantic jungle cat as a pet, Pearl decided to do some research on the subject.

She had located a book at a pre-used bookstore in town. It was a bit further then she would have liked. She asked the other gems if they would come with her. Amethyst seemed uninterested in books and Garnet seemed completely unfazed by this development in their otherwise Lion-free lifestyle.  
After returning back home, Pearl read the dusty book while sitting on the living room couch. She was hoping the extra knowledge would put her at ease.

It did not.

Among many of the facts carried in this human literature (titled: "Big Cats in the Wild"), were examples of carnage, slaughter, eating habits, territorial spats, and various ways a large animal could probably destroy the house…and Steven along with it. On the other hand, the book had nothing on lions being pink in color…or having "sonic roars". Pearl lowered the book briefly to gaze cautiously at the gigantic pink cat that was currently sleeping in the middle of the floor. Lion was stretched out to his full potential. He had purposely chosen a sunny spot of the house to bath in. Other than his ear twitching periodically and the sound of his sleeping breaths he didn't look terribly active or menacing. A sudden movement brought Pearl to a more alert state. Lion stretched in his sleep, baring his sharp claws before becoming inactive once more. Pearl shivered at the mere thought of those same claws ripping through the flesh of her family. She looked down at the book again.

"Lions can sleep up to 20 hours a day."

She supposed this was a good fact. If the creature was asleep, at least it wouldn't be violent. The front door suddenly banged open, causing Pearl to jump. The book fell to the floor.  
"Garnet says we're going to the pet store!" yelled Steven.  
Garnet who was standing directly behind the small human gave a nod of agreement. If they were going to keep this creature around, they would need supplies…LOTS of supplies. Garnet stared at the beast's large stature- knowing it would need just as much love.  
"Garnet…I've been reading up on the subject. I don't believe we have thought this through. A lion is a wild creature and is not typically kept as a pet- especially not in the house." Pearl picked up a book and flipped to a chapter titled "Captivity- A Controversy". "Look, see? All of these humans who kept lions as pets, they all met the same demise!" she turned to a page that featured a picture of several female lions in a cage made out of chained fence.

Garnet stiffly replied: "Not all of them."

Garnet turned the book a few pages forward and pointed to a picture of a man and wild lion embracing in a hug after a long time away from each other.  
"AWWWW! That's adorable!" Steven looked up at Garnet "Can I teach Lion to do that?"  
"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Pearl interrupted. "It says here that lions can weigh several hundred pounds! You'll get crushed!"  
"Steven will be fine." Garnet was tired of arguing. "…besides, we need to get an appointment. There is a doctor at the local pet store. We need to make sure Lion gets his vaccinations." Garnet glared at Pearl. "Unless you want Steven getting sick."  
Pearl looked mortified and conflicted. She certainly didn't want anything to happen to Steven, especially if this THING was going to be following him anyway. Deep down she knew that even if Lion was not allowed to be kept, he would still find a way to locate Steven. The only thing she could think of that was worse than being mauled by a lion, was being mauled by a disease-carrying lion.  
Amethyst suddenly appeared from her temple room, looking rather fatigued. "What's all the ruckus? I was taking a nap."  
"We're going to the pet store!" Steven repeated himself.  
Amethyst perked up immediately. "All right! Can I get a snake?!"  
"NO!" Pearl wanted no part in having another carnivorous creature endangering Rose's son.  
"How 'bout a rat?"  
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"  
Amethyst gave Pearl a disgruntled look. "Then why are we even going?"  
Garnet pointed at the sleeping lion.  
"OHHH! Yeah. That makes a lot more sense." Amethyst agreed.

\---------------

The large beast gave an annoyed, deep, warning, growl. He obviously didn't want to be disturbed. The gems instructed Steven to stand back as the three of them attempted to push the creature to its feet. Lion responded by making himself as heavy as humanly possible. He leaned toward the trio, and put all his weight on one side. The gems huffed with exhaustion before giving up the struggle. As Lion's weight fell back on the floor he gave a calm sigh, and fell asleep again.  
"Ugh. This is impossible!" Amethyst was frustrated. "If we can't even get him to come to the store NOW, how will we get him to the doctor for his appointment?"  
"Hmm. Don't know. Pearl, you said these things only weigh a few hundred pounds." Garnet frowned at the aspect that this creature was so heavy not even the three of them combined could move him without causing potential harm.  
"That's what the book said. Maybe it was older than I thought? Perhaps the information has been updated elsewhere?"  
"Let me try!" Steven butted in, looking at the large cat with determination. "MOVE!"

Lion's ear twitched again.

Steven tried a different approach and pushed the cat with all his might nearly straining himself as he did so. Lion gave a mighty yawn and rolled over.  
"Well, he did move..." said Amethyst chuckling to herself.

\----------------

It was decided that Steven and his family would walk to the store without the giant animal. There would be time to figure out a solution to this problematic situation later. Fortunately, the pet store was just a little further then the boardwalk. Pearl cradled the used book in her hands attempting to find the chapter on eating habits. She wanted to get the right food so that the beast would find Steven less delectable.

"Lions are carnivores. They eat meat, and will often follow vultures to food. They are willing to scavenge if necessary."

Pearl heightened her upper lip in disgust. It seemed that lions were not picky when it came to how long their kill had been dead. They were willing to eat carcasses.  
"This creature is sounding more and more unpleasant." stated Pearl, her nose in the book.  
"Will you put that thing down? You're going to run into something…actually, keep reading! That sounds hilarious!" Amethyst grinned at the thought. Before Pearl could rebuttal, two automatic glass doors swung open in front of them.  
"We're here." Garnet stated simply before walking through the entrance of the store and grabbing a cart. "I want you two to behave while in the store. If we get banned, we'll have to go to another store. It will require a ride on the bus."  
Pearl shuddered at the thought of cramped, public transportation. Amethyst's eyes lit up.  
"No." stated Garnet.  
"But I've never ridden on a bus be-"  
"No."  
"-I haven't even done any-"  
"No."  
Garnet was not in the mood for shenanigans. Her future vision showed many scenarios involving them getting banned due to Amethyst's behavior. "Take this cart. I'm going to speak with the animal doctor in the back. Steven?"  
"Y-yes Garnet?"  
"Keep an eye on these two goons."  
Steven gave a salute, as Garnet smiled and headed toward the back of the establishment.

\----------------

The store had white tile, tall ceilings, and rows upon rows of pet supplies for various animals. The place also smelled strongly of seed and dog treats. Pearl pushed the cart as she began to search the various isles for the "Lion" section. Amethyst followed her somewhat frustrated and bored, before noticing a giant yellow cockatoo in a cage.  
"I don't see any sections for lions." Pearl grew concerned. Steven snickered.  
"They don't have sections for lions Pearl!"  
"…and why not? Shouldn't an animal store accommodate all of Earth's animals?"  
Steven thought for a second "You know, they SHOULD! That would make a lot more sense. I've heard of people having all kinds of animals as pets, even spiders!"  
"Arachnids?" Pearl seemed puzzled that such a strange creature could be a "pet".  
"Yeah! …and hedgehogs, and horses, and skunks- HEY! Where's Amethyst?"  
To Pearl's horror, the purple gem had indeed disappeared from the group. She looked around frantically, attempting to get some idea of where Amethyst's tracks might have broken off in a different direction. The answer came almost immediately.

"SWAAAAK!"

The distressed call led Steven and Pearl running toward the bird section. When they got there the sight was more odd then troublesome.  
The large cockatoo in the cage flapped its wings in terror. The crest on its head frilled in fright, it puffed up its feathers to make itself look bigger than it actually was. On the opposite side of the cage an identical bird clung to the side bars. Purple and majestic, the new cockatoo screamed loudly and flapped its wings while clanging the large beak against the metallic cage. The frightened bird saw this conflicting purple cockatoo as a threat because of the bird's violent behavior. The poor thing shivered as far away from Amethyst as the cage would allow.  
"Oh no you don't!" Amethyst climbed to the opposite side to the cage using her newly created talons. She got as close to her fellow bird as possible. The real cockatoo hobbled to the opposite side of the cage again attempting to put some distance between it and the intruder.  
"I just wanna say hi!" Amethyst used her beak to climb back to her original position.

"AMETHYST! LEAVE THAT CREATURE ALONE!"

The sound of Pearl's scolding frightened Amethyst off the cage. In a flash of light, the purple gem slammed to the floor. The new cockatoo was gone, replaced by a dazed family member. Amethyst moaned as she rubbed her head, which had hit the hard tile floor during the fall.  
"What in the stars are you doing?!" Pearl stared at her in a rage. Amethyst looked at her with guilt.  
"I just wanted to see if I could talk to it, you know? Bird to bird?" The slight rise in her voice indicated that she was lying. Pearl put her fingers on the bridge of her nose.  
"You KNOW better Amethyst. How many times have you turned into Earth creatures? Just because you can shapeshift INTO birds does not mean you can SPEAK to birds."  
Amethyst grunted in response. Seeing a pause in the conversation, Steven took the opportunity to point out the obvious and distract his friends from fighting more.  
"Hey! Lion is a CAT right?"  
Pearl perked up. "Oh! Yes! Lion does share the most qualities with a feline! Good job Steven!" she turned a sharp look at Amethyst. "WE will head to that aisle NOW."  
Pearl gritted her teeth. Amethyst rolled her eyes.

\----------------

Garnet approached the back counter of the store. A small metallic tap bell was present. She stared at it for a second, before slamming her fist on top of it.  
"Ding-grth…"  
The bell let out the most pathetic sound she had ever heard. The weight of her strength causing a crack to form in the wall. When she lifted her fist once more, the bell was falling apart, and slightly flattened. She blushed. Maybe the workers wouldn't notice.  
A nice looking human appeared from the back door of the counter. "Just a minute!" As the woman appeared it was clear that she had been working with various animals all day. Her apron had fur all over it. Several band aids covered her arms, and the blond ponytail did little to hide the cat scratches on one side of her neck. "Hello!" she greeted in the kindest way possible. "How can I help you today?"  
"I would like to make an appointment."  
"For YOU? Hahaha! Just kidding! Vet humor!"  
Garnet showed no signs of happiness what-so-ever. She stood, stoic. Truthfully only half of her found the joke even remotely amusing…the same half that had probably just caused structural damage to the building.  
"A-him. Anyway…" The young girl tried to break the awkward silence by grabbing a clipboard from behind the desk. "Is it a dog, cat, or other?"  
Garnet thought for a second. "Cat."  
"Name?"  
"Lion."  
"Awww! What a cute name!"  
"Hmm."  
"…and what will this appointment be for?"  
"Shots. Lots of them."  
"Do you want Lion fixed?"  
"He's not broken."  
The woman stared at Garnet for a few seconds, not quite sure if she was joking or not. The large gem continuing to show no emotion one way or the other.  
"Okaaay….um…when do you want to schedule the appointment?"  
Garnet fell silent for a minute. "Next Friday at noon is the most optimal selection I can see."  
"All right! Just sign right here!"  
The girl handed Garnet a clipboard and pen. The gem looked at the paper for a few seconds before gently taking the writing utensil, and signing at the bottom. Slightly proud of herself, Garnet faced the woman and simply stated: "Thank you for your time." It was only as she began to walk away that the confused human noticed two things: 

1\. Her bell was broken

…and…

2\. The strange woman's signature stated: Ruby/ Sapphire/ Garnet and had a small star drawn next to it

\----------------

"WOW! Look at all the toys!" Steven was admiring the large wall of various cat teasers. Each one was colorful, or plush, or adorable, or awesome. "Which one would Lion like best?! What do you think Pearl?"  
Pearl didn't answer. She was to busy trying to figure out whether the various cat treats would be of any interest to their new family member. Most of the bags had small cats on them, not big ones like Lion. She spotted one that had no picture on it and simply stated: "Calming Treats! Great for Cats with Anxiety on Trips"  
"Hmm. I think Lion is pretty calm already. Still if he attacks Steven, this might help..." Pearl mumbled to herself.  
Amethyst suddenly walked up. She had somehow gotten a hold of a bag of rabbit food. She ate the green pellets ravenously. "Hmm. It's not as good as the fish food. Worms taste a lot better than grass."  
Pearl turned in disgust. "What…are…you…doing?"  
"Trying to find a food Lion will like." Amethyst spat flakes of rabbit pellets through her full mouth, before shoving in another handful.  
"You know I'm going to have to pay for everything you're eating?"  
"Yup! That why I put all the samples I've been trying in the cart."  
Amethyst pointed her thumb toward the cart. Pearl followed her hand to the sight of a cart with an empty bottle of bird seed, an empty jar of fish food, and what appeared to be some sort of empty can of something.  
"Stop eating everything in sight! I already know what Lion eats. We need some steak…or raw chicken."  
Pearl looked up, and saw one of the employees restocking a shelf of canned cat food. The shelf did not need more food per say, but the dozens of cans scattered on the floor had to be picked up and re-arranged. Pearl turned to Amethyst.  
"What?! Everyone knows they keep the fresh stuff in the back of the shelf. Even I know that! You don't want to get Lion OLD food, do you?"  
Pearl sighed, and approached the poor employee who was whispering curses under his breath.  
Pearl coughed slightly, hoping to get the man's attention. "Excuse me kind sir, do you know where we could find some steak please?"  
The man grumbled "berightback" before disappearing.  
"See Steven? If you ask nicely you'll be rewarded with results."  
Steven's eyes glimmered with stars as he nodded in agreement. The man came back several seconds later, and handed Pearl an array of items. "allrightgoingonbreakbye." He mumbled before walking off again. Pearl surveyed the items, and soon found herself becoming frustrated. "Steak flavored dog food, beef flavored cat food, and-what is this?" Pearl held up something that slightly resembled a steak-but only by minimalistic standards. She squeezed it. It squeaked back. "Well I've never!"  
Amethyst began to roll on the floor, laughing hysterically. "Those are some GREAT results you've got their Pearl! Really top notch stuff! TOTALLY what we were looking for!"  
Pearl stuck her nose up in the air. "This establishment is going to get a very nasty complaint letter about the attitude of its employees. I assure you!"

"Um guys?" Steven piped up "What are we going to do now? There's no food here Lion can eat."

The two gems realized this would not bode well at all. Clearly the entire reason of coming to this place was to get something much more delectable to occupy Lion than a fresh half-human. Pearl put three bags of the calming treats into the cart.  
"Well, we can still get some toys here. What do you think of this Amethyst?" Steven held up a plush ribbon on a string.  
"Oh yeeeah! Lion will LOVE that!" Amethyst saw what Pearl had put in the cart, and discreetly grabbed a large bottle of something grassy on the shelf. She hid it on herself quickly. As the trio continued down the aisle, Garnet suddenly appeared with a rare grin on her face.  
"You look happy Garnet!" Pearl lifted an extra-large dog bed that had obviously been put on the wrong shelf into the basket.  
"I got Lion his appointment for next Friday."  
"Oh thank goodness! It seems we accomplished this mission with little disruption."  
"How did you guys do?" Garnet surveyed the cart. She lifted the large bed to reveal the toy, cat treats, and various open containers of pet food. Garnet looked toward Amethyst her smile fading.  
"What? I got hungry."  
Amethyst looked down, slightly embarrassed. Pearl found the situation stressfull, and piped up. "Well, what really matters is that nothing significant got destroyed right Garnet?"  
Garnet turned to Pearl. Her face suddenly transformed into a frown. Pearl became nervous, shuddering at the thought of being yelled at. All Garnet could think about was the wall in the back of the store that now had a fresh crack in it. "We should probably go." She stated feeling slightly embarrassed herself.

\----------------

The same male employee that had "helped" Pearl earlier rang up their items. Pearl stared at him with a look of disapproval. He didn't notice. He was way too busy trying to figure out why on Earth most of the bags of food these people were buying were completely empty.  
"Uh…theseare…erm…empty?"  
"Yes. I know." Garnet replied, both employee and gem having about the same amount of enthusiasm in their voices.  
"Okwhatever."  
He rang them up anyway. "$54.98"  
As the three of them left the building Garnet tossed the empty containers in a recycling bin. She bubbled the items that hadn't been eaten, and tapped on the top with her hand. The bubbles disappeared and dissolved into nothingness.  
"There. Now we don't have to carry anything back." Garnet smiled slightly.  
"Why didn't I think of that?" Steven realized that this technique could have saved a lot of time during past predicaments. He wondered if he could bubble himself back to the temple somehow to avoid walking.  
"I only did it, because we are not going home yet." Garnet looked into the horizon.  
"What do you mean?" Steven was confused.  
"It seems you all failed to find our furry friend any food. We are going to have to go to the grocery store on the way home."

Pearl groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Food Lion


	2. Food Lion

"You will go inside. We will stay out here."

Garnet was incredibly insistent.  
Pearl was less than enthusiastic. "Normally I would be completely up to this, but I was at least planning on having someone go with me…" As much as Pearl was willing to complete this task, she had secretly hoped that one of the other gems would handle Lion's food when the appropriate time showed itself. Garnet looked into the distance.  
"Take Steven with you."  
"What? Me?"  
"Yes you. I don't think it would be a good idea to leave Amethyst by herself…or lead her into a store full or perishables."  
Amethyst glared at Garnet. "Psshh. Whatever." She was clearly frustrated that trust was not available among her friends.  
Garnet looked down at her. "You lost our trust at the pet store."  
Amethyst's expression turned to horror. Sometimes she thought Garnet could not only tell the future, but read minds as well.  
"I don't need to read your mind Amethyst. Your just very…hmmm…predictable." Garnet smirked at Amethyst's shocked face.  
"Garnet, why don't you and Steven go? I'll keep an eye on Amethyst!" Pearl rebutted.  
"Mmmm…no." Garnet was well aware how much control Pearl had over Amethyst. All she could think about was how the rest of the day had played out.  
"You are a good candidate anyway Pearl. We could use some extra food around the house and you don't normally overspend."  
"That's because she doesn't EAT. She never buys enough!" Amethyst interupted. "How is she even supposed to know what the good stuff is? She never tastes anything she buys!"  
"I know enough!" huffed Pearl. "I have done extended research on healthy human diets! Vegetables! Whole wheat-"  
"-candy?"  
"No Steven. Not today."  
Steven pouted. Knowing Pearl, she would probably get something exotic. Last time she had brought back an entire bag of something called "kiwano" because it was "on sale". Steven stuck out his tongue. If it hadn't been for his dad's cooking he would have starved that week. He recalled that Amethyst got so desperate she ate the bag that the fruit had come in.  
"You and you alone must do this. I'm counting on you Pearl." Garnet looked toward Pearl with trust.  
"I'll…I'll try my best." Pearl didn't want to seem weak in front of Garnet.  
Garnet continued: "Steven!"  
"Yes?"  
"Make sure she doesn't buy anything weird."  
At this comment Pearl seemed to be on the cusp between rage and perplexity. Steven quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her through the automatic door.

\----------------

What Steven didn't realize is that Pearl had never bought meat before…not raw meat anyway. Greg normally provided his son with enough animal protein to satisfy several people. Most of the "meat" she bought had been processed. Pearl knew processed meat was not as good for humans, she really did. The sight of obvious carnage just made her feel horrific. During her shopping trips, it had gotten to the point where food even AROUND the meat cooler at the store was purposely avoided.  
Pearl and Steven approached the meat department with haste. Steven wanted to look at the other goodies in the store and Pearl just wanted to leave as fast as possible. The thought of having to handle the husk of something that had once been so ALIVE made Pearl incredibly uncomfortable. It went against all of Rose's principles. Steven saw the look of uncertainty on her face.  
"You okay Pearl?"  
"FiNe-ErNgH…" Pearl tried to compose herself and was terribly unsuccessful. Her nerves were shot. She felt light headed.  
"I'll hold the meat, if you want. I'm used to barbecuing with dad."  
Pearl looked down at Steven, incredibly thankful that he had hit the problem on the nose. She was too dizzy to create words, so nodded instead.  
The meat counter came into view. Any color that was in Pearl's face disappeared completely. There were chopped up parts and pieces of all sorts of creatures. Fish that had been sliced in half- their bones and red muscles exposed. A baby cow had been nearly diminished to a fine paste. Various shellfish lay limp in piles. Multiple crab legs had been ripped into halves. A pig haunch sat on its side, a sad state of its former self. A dead fish stared, it's eyes unblinking in the glass case-

The next thing Pearl remembered were her eyes opening. The lights on the ceiling were harsh, and she squinted to see. Steven was over her- his face looked panicked. She could see his mouth moving- but could not hear anything. Slowly other humans became more defined-and the sound slowly came back.  
"p-rl…pearl…PEARL! OH MY GOSH ARE YOU OK?!"  
"huhwah?" Pearl attempted to answer but failed to create words.  
"You just fell over! Does your head feel alright? You must have hit it pretty hard…"  
Pearl now noticed that she had caused quite a spectacle. A horde of people began to approach her. Some had a worried look on their face, others only seemed empathetically curious. She sat up- probably quicker than her body would have preferred. Her head began to spin again. She wobbled slightly.  
"Just relax Pearl! I'll go get Garnet!" Steven ran from the scene as fast as he could. A large man with the store's logo on the pocket of his shirt approached her.  
"Mam, do you want me to call an ambulance? Would you like a glass of water? It might make you feel better-"  
"-I'M FINE! Really…" Pearl interrupted the man and quickly attempted to calm herself. The last thing in the world she wanted right now was a glass of water. As the sound of footsteps became ever closer Pearl turned to the source of the noise. She could see Steven and Garnet running toward her. The gem felt slightly ashamed that she had not been able to complete this simple task. She stared at Garnet, incredibly embarrassed.  
"PEARL! Are you okay?" Garnet saw the look on Pearl's face, her gaze turned to the crowd. "Show's over. You can all move along now." Garnet attempted to persuade the crowd to leave.  
The worker responded: "But, this woman could be seriously hurt! What if she-"  
Garnet turned to the man and put her hand on his shoulder. She gave him a glare that he mistook for a somewhat angry one.  
"She will be fine. I've got this." Garnet patted his shoulder. The man walked away briskly and slightly frightened.  
"Garnet! I am SO sorry I don't know what came over me." Pearl was on the brink of tears.  
The red gem was sympathetic: "No Pearl I'M sorry. I saw this as a possibility, but the percentage was so low I didn't think anything would come of it. I blame myself." The red gem was clearly upset with her own decision. "Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air. I'll take care of this."  
Pearl nodded. She was thankful that this awful nightmare of a situation was going to be fine. She got up slowly (and still slightly wobbly), before heading toward the exit of the grocery store.

\----------------

Steven ran outside in a panic. Both him and Garnet sprinted back inside. Amethyst was now alone.

She stood in an awkward state of shock for a second. The purple gem had no clue why there was such a din coming from the store.

Amethyst did not see what was going on inside, but she DID see something else- an opportunity!

She spotted a slightly hidden door on the side of the building. It had a small red sign with white letters that said "Employees Only" on the front.

She figured that if she didn't get caught by any of her friends, she wouldn't get blamed. Amethyst opened the door. A light shined from her gem and faded. Where she once stood, there was now a purple mouse. The new animal scurried into the building, licking it's chops. The large door slammed behind.

\----------------

Pearl staggered out the front door, and found a bench near the entrance. She sat down and closed her eyes. She didn't hear Amethyst. Was the purple gem with Garnet? She couldn't remember. She must have been…yes…definitely. Pearl's head throbbed.

\----------------

Garnet turned to Steven. "I guess it's up to us now."  
"Yeah…will she be okay?"  
"She'll be fine."  
Garnet held Steven's hand as they finished the journey to the meat counter. A hefty butcher stood behind the counter chopping at a red, wet piece of meat. He was so busy with his work that his didn't notice the duo staring at him.  
As the two of them waited patiently, Steven spotted a tank full of something.  
"Woah! Garnet! Look at this!"  
Inside the tank sat several sad looking lobsters. Their claws were held tightly closed with various colored rubber bands. "Do you think they will find good homes? They're soo cute!"  
As Steven looked at the creatures, Garnet's brow furrowed.  
"-and I'll name you Dr. Claw, and YOU Henry!" Steven finished naming all the lobsters in the tank. "See? Now that all of them have names, they will be best friends forever!"  
Garnet made a strange sound that represented a mix between a weep and a cough. Despite this, she kept her composure. Another small metallic bell on the glass case caught her attention. She was reminded of the first one that had appeared earlier.  
"Steven, why don't you ring the bell?"  
"OH! Right!"  
Steven smacked the bell repeatedly. The rings filled the entire area. The butcher walked over to the small child and chuckled with a deep laugh as he scooted the bell away from Steven's reach.  
"What can I get 'cha?"  
"Meat please!"  
"What kind of meat?"  
Garnet butted in. "Antelope."  
The butcher roared with laughter. The sound echoing through the aisles. Several fellow shoppers who passed by stopped to see where the loud noise had come from. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, the man smacked his leg and pointed at Garnet. "I like you guys! It's always nice to get people with a good sense of humor! Now, what can I REALLY get you?"  
Garnet gave the man a cross look of annoyance. Steven decided to butt in. "Some steak please!"  
"AHHH! Now you're talking! How much would you like?"  
Steven looked at Garnet. She replied: "All of it."  
"BWAHAHAHA! What is with you? Trying to make an old man's day?"  
"YOU are not old." Garnet thought about her own age. She had seen parts of the American Revolution, and the Civil War, and the World Wars…she suddenly realized how many battles she had witnessed. She wondered why fighting seemed to be such a big part of all cultures.  
"Ahh. That's nice of you to say. You guys are alright."  
Steven decided to take the reins. "Actually we DO need a lot of meat. We're having…erm…a big party! Yeah! That's believable!"  
"Well, all righty then! If it's a big party you want, then a big party you shall have!" The butcher walked to the back room, and re-emerged with the largest slab of meat Steven had ever seen! If the animal was still alive, it was probably about the size of two goats.  
"WOAH! What IS that?" Steven was clearly impressed.  
"I haven't cut it yet. Came in this morning. We don't get a lot of people wanting this much meat, but once in a while they want stuff like this...for barbecues or luaus or other big parties-like yours! It's cheaper to buy it pre-cut like this anyway."  
"We'll take three." Garnet nodded.  
"WOW! That's going to be some party I bet'cha!"

Unfortunately, the man only had one large side of beef in the back. He satisfied his customers with fourteen additional large blobs of eatable animal. "That there's a baron stake. It's the biggest cut I can give you that isn't attached." The man tied packaging paper onto all the purchases so that they wouldn't leak.

At this point, the entire cart was filled to the brim. Garnet nodded with satisfaction. This would certainly be enough-for several days at least. "Steven, would you mind grabbing what you need as well? I don't think anything else will fit in this cart."  
Steven whooped, and ran off to get something awesome for the week's breakfast. Garnet stayed put.  
"Did you need anything else?" The butcher asked curiously.  
Garnet made sure Steven was out of sight before leaning in to the butcher. She sternly whispered: "How much for the lobsters?"

\----------------

The purple mouse waddled around the storage room. She quickly chewed the corners of various cracker boxes and snuck inside. This creature worked quickly, making sure to nibble all the boxes from the back so that no one would catch her. Any carton that was attacked was left much lighter. For a while the mouse contemplated eating the boxes as well, but figured their contents were much more delicious than the containers.  
Suddenly, an employee walked through the same door that the mouse had used. The door slammed, and with a frightened squeak, the small creature hid underneath a pallet of toilet paper.  
The human sat and began playing with his phone. The mouse relaxed slightly, and began to clean her crumb-riddled face with her little paws. She would have to wait until this person was gone before risking moving around again.

\----------------

Garnet waited at the checkout line, her large purchase catching the eyes of everyone nearby. Steven staggered next to her a few seconds later- his arms filled with stuff he probably shouldn't eat in excess. Garnet glared at him sternly. She predicted indigestion, as well as a stern talking to from Pearl. Steven saw her expression, and answered her look by making his eyes as large and cute as possible. She sighed, and figured if nothing else it would serve as an important learning experience about eating correctly. Steven smiled and piled his stuff on the treadmill along with the meat. A giant mysterious brown bag had also appeared among the pile.  
"Garnet? Is that bag ours? What is it?"  
"A surprise."  
Garnet smiled as the boy's eyes lit up.  
The transaction was much smoother this time, and the two of them happily walked out of the store with their purchases.  
Garnet quickly bubbled up all the groceries (except for Steven's surprise) before Pearl could see any of the junk food she had been coaxed into buying. She held the mysterious brown bag, and found an exhausted Pearl lying on a bench nearby. The white gem had found a cool wet cloth and had draped it across her head. Steven looked at the cloth in confusion.  
"Probably had it stored in her gem." Garnet answered Steven's inquisitive face. He nodded in agreement. Pearl always stored lots of different things for serious medical situations in her gem. She was always very well prepared.  
"Pearl!"  
The sudden shout from Garnet stirred Pearl into focus. The cloth fell off her face and she quickly rubbed her eyes in pain.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Oggg…better?"  
"Where's Amethyst?"  
Pearl looked at her in terror "I thought she was with YOU!"  
"Hmmm." Garnet let out an annoyed groan.

\----------------

The human texted someone on his phone. He laughed stupidly as another text returned. The purple mouse waited impatiently. This kid had been sitting on the same pile of boxes for over 30 minutes already.  
"AMETHYST! AMEEEETHYST!"  
On the outside of the door the mouse heard Steven calling her name.  
"Come on Amethyst…I wanna go home. I got lots of stuff I think you'll like! Please Amethyst? Don't be mad…"  
The mouse felt guilty. She didn't want to upset the boy, but didn't want to get caught either. What could she do? Certainly her gem friends would get angry if she walked out the front of the store. Amethyst cooked up a plan. She waited until Steven's yells droned away.  
A faint purple glow emitted from underneath the pallet. This immediately caught the attention of the employee, who turned quickly from his electronic device.  
As Amethyst had mentioned earlier, she had a special place in her heart for misunderstood critters. She could relate to them on a personal level. She especially liked stuff that freaked out Pearl, such as rats and…

"SNAKE!" The human bounded up in fear as a two-foot Spiny Bush Viper emerged from underneath the pile of toilet paper. It was her favorite breed, and she found it surprisingly cute despite its deadly history. The human contorted with fear and quickly ran toward the exit as Amethyst hissed at him with warning. In less than a minute the teenager ran out the door in a panic, the snake close behind. While the employee kept running into the horizon, the deadly creature stopped in the surrounding parking lot.  
The snake, now alone and outside, suddenly glowed brilliantly. Where the reptile had been, Amethyst now stood once again. She fell over on her side laughing hysterically, holding her sides. Humans were so easy to fool!  
The gem suddenly remembered that she needed to find Steven and the others. She turned the corner of the building and faced her family, grinning smugly. "You losers looking for me?"  
"AMETHYST!" The three yelled in unison.  
"Where were you?!" Pearl put her hands on her hips.  
"Oh…you know…around."  
Garnet gave her a menacing scowl.  
"Yup! Just hanging! That's what I do! Totally not getting in trouble or anything. NO SIR."  
Amethyst looked up at Garnet who didn't seem the least convinced.  
"…Let's head back to the house. I'm getting tired anyway." Amethyst yawned and began walking toward the beach.

\----------------

As the gems approached the temple. Garnet stopped on the shore. "I think it's time for your surprise Steven."  
"Oh boy! Oh boy!" Steven shook with excitement.  
Garnet handed him the large bag which was surprisingly heavier than he had initially anticipated. He tore open the bag unable to contain himself. "OHMYGOSH! Lobster buddies!"  
"Lobster buddies?" Pearl looked at her fellow gem, confused.  
"It's a long story." Garnet replied.  
Pearl looked into the bag which was crawling with life. "What are we going to do with all these lobsters?"  
"Let's eat 'em!" Amethyst's mouth watered at the thought of having cooked lobster.  
"NOOOO! Don't hurt them!" Steven hugged the bag desperately.  
"Hmm. What do you think we should do with them Steven?" Garnet already knew what his answer would be.  
"Well, I don't want to keep them locked up in a cage or anything. I already have Lion as a pet…OH I KNOW!" Steven looked toward the ocean.  
It took some time to get all the rubber bands off the claws of all the animals. When the lobsters were ready, Steven tipped the bag over, and the creatures crawled toward the sea. "Goodbye friends! Be free!"  
The lobsters soon disappeared into the waves. Steven turned and embraced Garnet. "Thanks. I think they're much happier now!"  
"I know they are."  
Steven and Amethyst ran toward the temple to see who could get there first. Garnet looked toward them and smiled. Pearl approached her.  
"Garnet, I hate to ask this, but how much did you spend?"

Garnet's smile turned into a serious grim. "You don't want to know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Lion in the Laundry
> 
> \----------------
> 
> Thought you guys would like me to add something amusing- just because!
> 
> INTERESTING THINGS I UNINTENTIONALLY LEARNED WHILE RESEARCHING FOR THIS CHAPTER:
> 
> ~How people transport live lobsters from a grocery store (they sometimes use styrofoam boxes too)
> 
> ~What a Kiwano is (Look it up! It's a VERY weird fruit-thingy)
> 
> ~One of the largest cuts of steak you can order from a butcher is called a baron. It basically…like…a large wad of meat.
> 
> ~That gigantic piece of meat that Rocky fights is typically called "a side of beef", although an uncut slab of meat is also affectionately called a "carcass" by butchers
> 
> ~Spiny Bush Vipers are adorable. They have special scales that look like feathers!
> 
> \----------------
> 
> I also would like to give a shout out to all the awesome people that decided to review and watch this story! You guys are the best!


	3. Lion in the Laundry

Lion was gone.

This fact would have been less surprising if something had been destroyed- like the screen door in the front of the house. However, as the living room was, there was no damage that was noticeable.  
Steven was clearly confused. “Lion! LION! Where are you?” He began to pace around the house and climbed the stairs to his bedroom loft…no signs of the cat anywhere. Steven sighed, sitting on his bed slightly depressed.

“I don’t get it! You think a huge creature like that would be fairly easy to find….” Pearl contemplated.  
Garnet said nothing, but entered her room of the temple pretty quickly. She had to get the groceries put away before they went bad…especially the meat.  
Pearl suddenly remembered that she was still carrying her lion book. She looked down at it, slightly puzzled. She opened the book, and began to read, hoping to find a solution to this new problem. As she read, she also walked into her room. It was more quiet there than anywhere else in the house. An absolutely wonderful place for concentration!

Amethyst fell asleep on the couch. 

\----------------

Lion stood majestically in a new found spot. It was the highest point of the temple that had any signs of human life. The giant stone hand on which he stood gave the impression that the feline was a small pink lion toy. He located two interesting metallic boxes nearby, and sniffed them curiously. A sudden sound of fluttering from above caught the creature’s attention quickly.  
MOVEMENT!  
Lion looked up in surprise! Above was a clothing line with many of Steven shirts- hung up to dry and perhaps forgotten. He watched as the closest one moved with the wind. The creature crouched down, eyes focused. He readied a pounce.

“Snap!”

As he clung on to the shirt in his mouth, the entire line fell limp. The creature landed back on the large stone hand. A sudden storm of shirts and string followed. Surprised by this development, the feline sat for a few seconds, stunned that he was now completely covered in cloth. He shook himself and the shirts flew everywhere. Most of them landed on the sandy beach far below. Lion looked at the original shirt, and pawed at it playfully. He secretly hoped his pray would move again, but it sat limp. He put his gigantic hand on top and dug his claws in. The animal was proud of his catch! It was now time to reap the reward!  
Lion put the shirt in his mouth, and began to tear it to pieces. The monster used his claws to steady the object as the teeth tore through the thing.  
“Rip! Rip! Riiiiiiipppp!!!!”  
Soon the pray was in shreds. The large cat, satisfied, threw the shirt off the side of the cliff. It would soon be reunited with its brothers.

Slightly bored, the creature yawned. His focus now switched to the metallic boxes again. He pawed at one cautiously.  
Nothing happened.  
Lion decided that the only way to get a better view of the place would be to jump on top. Certainly these boxes would make a good vantage point?

He hopped on the dryer with ease! The excitement only lasted a few seconds, however, as the weight of the large beast landed on the machine.  
“RUMP!!”  
The metal easily bent under his feet turning the topside into a crater. The surprised animal jumped back off quickly, and sniffed the box, wondering why it had snapped at him. This thing was no good! The cat stood on its hind legs, and began to shove at the item using his front paws. The wires and pipes connecting the machine groaned under the weight, before snapping. Lion watched below in fascination as the large block fell off the cliff. It hit the sand and exploded into pieces.  
As the creature spectated, his paws and head dangling over the edge- another thought came to him. Certainly, if one metal box was dangerous, the other one must be too?  
Lion stared at the washing machine for a few seconds before making up his mind. The feline pounced playfully on the side of the box, and hugged it with his talons. The sharp teeth dug into the corner, creating many holes. This process was repeated numerous times until the machine’s metal gave a heaving sigh. With one final push, the creature expected the box to reach the same fate as its sibling. However, this cube was not willing to quit without a fight! As the machine heaved over the side, a large “SNAP!” echoed across the beach. The machine fell, but was soon replaced by a massive exposed pipe.  
“ROOARMPH!”  
The surprised lion quickly retreated as a large flow of water hit him like a geyser! He ran in place a few seconds before his weight caught up to him. Darting as fast as he could!  
“ROOOAAAR!”  
The creature’s mighty sound temporarily opened up a portal. The soaked creature quickly jumped through…

\----------------

Pearl was glad to finally be home. The day had presented its share of challenges, and it was nice to read in her own private space again. There were no interruptions and no distractions here…

The portal reopened- the shock from the wet animal created a slight miscalculation in accuracy.  
“SPLASH!!!”  
As the large beast fell from above, one of the fountains in Pearl’s room provided just enough cushion to prevent any injury. The shocked creature flailed slightly at the notion of more water dowsing his fur. He sped away toward the temple door as fast as possible in order to become dry once more. The door opened and closed quickly behind him creating an easy exit.

This entire fiasco had happened so quickly that the feline hadn’t even noticed the (now soaked) gem that had fallen over. A slight sense of shock and rage began to build as she saw her new book was now waterlogged.

\--------------------

“AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!”

A scream could be heard from Pearl’s room as the cat suddenly appeared in the house. The noise woke up Amethyst with a start, and caused Steven to look over the edge of his loft.

“LION! There you are!” The excited boy ran down the stairs.  
The panicked creature’s breathing eased at the sight of familiar faces. The feline shook itself, resulting in a spray of water flicking across the room.  
“AGPH! WET!” The surprised Steven covered his eyes with his arm as the liquid spread around the house.  
Lion began to madly groom himself in an attempt to get the water off his fur. The boy ran to the bathroom to get some towels. As he reemerged, the wad of towels blocked his view, making him stagger slightly. Steven mumbled: “How did you get so wet? Did you take an ocean journey?” He proceeded to throw all the towels over Lion, the large cat backed away a few steps in surprise. Steven coaxed him forward, and began to dry him off with determination.

“You made a mess Lion! Now I’m going to have to wipe down the entire house! What will Pearl say?”  
As if on que, Pearl emerged. She looked quite soaked and unhappy. “WHERE IS THAT ANIMAL?!?”  
At the sight of Pearl, Amethyst began to laugh hysterically. “What did you do to yourself P? You look awful!”  
“That THING…” Pearl pointed at Lion “-nearly shattered me! He just fell from above somewhere! How on earth did he even get in my quarters?”  
“Idon’tknow.” Amethyst shrugged.  
The creature looked at the soaked gem in surprise. Perhaps the monstrous box had attacked her too? He was glad he had tossed it over the cliff so it wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

With a disgruntled huff, Pearl went to the bathroom to try to make herself decent. The gem turned on the sink so that she could get the wet strands of lion fur off of herself. The sink gave a warning groan. Nothing happened.  
Surprised, Pearl turned around to get a towel. If nothing else, at least she could dry off? Unfortunately, it seemed that all the towels had been taken out of the bathroom for some reason. Frustrated, she took some tissues out of a box and dried her face.  
“AMETHYST WHY ISN’T THE WATER WORKING?”  
Amethyst shouted back: “How should I know?”  
“You weren’t messing with it?”  
“Dude! I was asleep.”  
“Where did all the towels go?”  
“They’re in here!”

Pearl walked back into the living room only to find every towel on the floor and littered with more pink hair. The animal was now almost completely dry, only to the sacrifice of having to do another load of laundry.  
“Oh. Sorry Pearl. I didn’t know you were wet. I would have saved you a towel too.” Steven felt guilty. “I just didn’t want Lion to get the house soaked any more than he already had…”

It was at this point Pearl noticed that the entire house was littered with water and globs of wet sand. It was over every surface; including the walls, floor, and tables. Her face began turning into a fuming red color, but at the sight of Steven’s sad eyes, she forced herself to calm down.

“It’s ok Steven. This is easily fixable. I just need to do a load of laundry in order to make these towels clean again. This will all be fine!”

\----------------

At the sight of the carnage Pearl stood with her mouth agape. She didn’t know how to feel anymore. The exposed pipe continued to spray a puddle of water into the front yard down below. Both the washer and dryer were in shambles, and any clothing that HAD been clean was now completely soiled.  
“Woah! What happened here?” Amethyst appeared from behind. “Did...like…something explode? It looks like something exploded…”  
“I…I don’t know. What- wha-“ Pearl was at a loss of words. This entire day had been one horrendous event after another. “Amethyst, get Garnet.”

\----------------

Garnet appeared in the house carrying her large stash of Lion food and some milk. She saw Steven and the animal in the middle of the floor surrounded by towels.  
“Hmm.” She didn’t question this, but walked over to the fridge just as calmly as if she hadn’t seen anything at all. The smaller pieces of meat filled the fridge entirely- but the side of beef was being rather stubborn. Garnet glanced at it for a second not quite sure what to do with its massive size. She placed the food on the floor. Her hand glowed briefly as a gauntlet suddenly appeared. To Steven’s surprise, she began to punch the massive frozen carcass into tinier pieces. When the poor thing had been pulverized into an agreeable size, she ended up filling the remainder of the fridge and freezer with the smaller chunks. “There. Now everything can fit in the refrigerator.”  
“What about the milk?”  
At Steven’s inquiry, Garnet glanced at the large jug of milk that was sitting on the counter. She had forgotten about it and looked toward Steven. “You should drink this now, before it goes bad.”  
“I can’t drink an entire gallon of milk! Have you even seen those Tubetube videos? I’ll get sick if I drink that whole thing at once!”  
Garnet looked at the milk thinking for a second. “Hang on.”  
The gem grabbed the jug and retreated into her room. Some moments passed, and she returned into the common area with one of her bubbles in hand. “I fixed it.”  
The bubble was filled with large thick, glacier-like ice cubes. The milk sat peacefully in the middle. Garnet went back to the fridge, and allowed the bubble to gently float near the top of the cupboard.  
“Whoa…where did you get that ice? It’s gigantic!”  
Garnet shrugged. “All that’s important is that the milk will keep now…Steven, I think you should take Lion for a walk.”  
“Why?”  
“It would be most beneficial to you both.” She put in no further explanation.  
“Um…okaaaay?” Steven stood up, and the massive animal followed. The two left out the front door of the house, and immediately Steven was glad he had listened.

On the front lawn a herd of his shirts were scattered among the sand. Broken pieces of metal were everywhere. A large amount of water was raining from above and creating a large sand puddle. Steven could hear Pearl’s screaming from up above. He couldn’t make out what she was saying but he was incredibly happy that the tallest gem had given him permission to go out on his own. He wanted to get away from the bustle for a while.

\----------------

“THAT THING IS SLEEPING OUTSIDE.” Pearl was in a foul mood. They would have to buy a new washer and dryer because of this beast. She certainly didn’t want any more parts of the house getting destroyed.  
“What’s going on?” Garnet appeared with Amethyst not too far behind. At the sight of the wreck she answered her own question. “Hmm.”  
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN “HMM”? AREN’T YOU ENRANGED? LOOK AT WHAT THAT PINK MENNACE DID!” screeched Pearl.  
“I’m furious.” answered Garnet. She looked at Pearl who seemed defeated by her lack of feeling.  
The red gem approached the leaking pipe, and proceeded to use her gauntlet to squeeze it and stop the water flow. “There. It stopped.”  
“What about the washer and dryer?” Pearl was not at all satisfied with this quick fix.  
“We’ll get new ones. At least the water pressure will work now.”  
The red gem nodded in satisfaction. She quickly retreated back to the house, figuring that the situation was as good as it could be…considering the circumstances. Pearl was left to evaluate her strategy for that evening.

\----------------

“What do you mean he can’t sleep in the house?” Steven had returned from his walk, and was clearly upset by what Pearl had decided.  
“He’s still a wild animal! I have already briefed you on all the things he destroyed today.”  
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it…”  
“My answer is NO Steven.” Pearl approached the creature, and managed to coax him out the front door. She closed it before he could come back inside. Lion stood there for a few seconds before he realized what had happened. He turned around with a look of confusion, and stared at the gem that had just pushed him away from his family. His sad eyes met hers from behind the screen door. Pearl seemed satisfied. “See? He’ll be FINE. Look! He loves it out there!”  
“It doesn’t look like he loves it.”  
“That’s just because he knows he can’t destroy any more of our house. He will be able to come back inside when he learns to behave.”  
“-but…”  
“Good night Steven.” Pearl trotted back into her room. She knew this was a difficult decision, but was also the right one. Financially, this creature was already costing too much, and expenses had to be considered.

“Raaaarrrrrr!!!” Lion gave a moan of discontent. He placed his paw on the screen door in hopes someone would notice he had “accidentally” been left outside.  
“Sorry Steven. If it makes you feel any better, I think Lion is pretty funny!” Amethyst attempted to cheer the child up with little success. Garnet appeared, holding Lion’s bed.  
“Perhaps this will make him feel better.”  
The red gem opened the screen door. Lion backed up quickly, expecting to be let in again. Garnet placed the large dog bed outside and shut the door fast, so that Lion couldn’t weasel his way through the entrance. The curious animal sniffed at the new object before jumping inside. It was nice, but it was not the house. The large cat walked back to the door.  
“Raaaarrrrrr!!!”  
“See? He’s lonely!” Steven protested.  
“I’m sure he will be fine” Garnet reassured him.

\----------------

“Raaaarrrrrr!!!”

“Raaaarrrrrr!!!”

“Raaaarrrrrr!!!”

It was the middle of the night. Lion had not stopped yowling since he had been put outside. Steven was exhausted. He couldn’t sleep with all the noise.

\----------------

At this point, the cat figured this entire scenario was just a misunderstanding. Perhaps the beings wanted him outside because they were afraid that the box would come back? That was silly. He knew for a fact that the thing had been destroyed. There was nothing to be afraid of now. An idea popped into the cat’s head. He had gotten back in before, why couldn’t he do it again?

The creature let out a huge roar, and jumped through the created portal.

\----------------

After hearing a large roar, Steven figured that the cat had given up out of frustration. No more sounds could be heard, and the boy soon fell asleep.

A shining circle appeared in the living room. The large creature bounded out, slightly skidding to stop himself. He sniffed around the room as quietly as possible, and soon located the couch. Exhausted, he fell on top of it, and drifted off into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Lion used Headbutt! It’s Super Effective! – The Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby Edition!
> 
> (bet you can’t guess who’s going to appear next…it’s totally not obvious at all…)
> 
> \----------------
> 
>  
> 
> For this chapter, I had to figure out how much pressure and weight it would take to completely crush a dryer. Since there's no definite answer for this, I went to Youtube! 
> 
> (there’s a surprising amount of videos involving dryers getting destroyed by stuff….most commonly by throwing a brick inside the revolver). 
> 
> I finally came across a video of someone shoving a washer off a two story balcony onto a dryer below. The dryer immediately became flattened upon impact. I then had to do some math (yay math!).
> 
> Turns out, a washing machine weighs approximately 200 pounds. A full grown male lion can weigh up to about 400 pounds. So yes, in theory, a jumping lion COULD put a large dent in a dryer.
> 
> So much research for one scene…yikes. 
> 
> In terms of logic, I still don’t know how the washer and dryer don’t corrode in various weather elements. It seems like a terribly inconvenient place to put a laundry “room”…just saying…


	4. Lion used Headbutt! It's Super Effective! – The Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby Edition!

When morning arrived, Pearl was clearly upset that the animal had found his way onto the couch. Despite good attempts, Steven repeated over and over that he had NOT let the cat in during the night, and that he was "unsure" of how Lion got into the living room in the first place.  
Garnet was at her wits end. Although she didn't show it, the gem was quite tired of the bickering and yelling between Pearl, Steven, and Amethyst.  
"Listen up Crystal Gems! I want you to take Steven to the Boardwalk. I have an important mission, and cannot be disturbed."  
"But Garnet-" The three others protested.  
"No buts. Go out and have some fun." The gem showed her family out the door, and handed Pearl some money for Steven's lunch.

Garnet watched outside the window until the trio disappeared. She could still hear Pearl and Amethyst bickering in the distance. The tall gem sighed in relief. Truthfully, she didn't have anything to do, but wanted some time to rest and reflect. She was internally frustrated with all the events that had been going on. Being the leader of a team was not always easy, and she was having a lot of trouble standing up for this destructive creature.

Garnet gazed at Lion who stared right back. The animal now sat on the floor looking surprised. In the last few days, Lion had not spent a lot of time with anyone other than Steven.  
"You've been causing a lot of trouble."  
The creature didn't respond, but did begin to groom his face.  
"I wonder what you would think of us?"  
Lion answered with a grunt.

Suddenly, Garnet began to shimmer brightly. Her entire self was engulfed in a brilliant light. The beast stood up and backed away with caution, unsure what to expect from this phenomenon. The one glow soon evolved into two. Where Garnet once stood there was now a duo of much smaller gems. One was dark red and had a haircut that surprisingly represented an overstuffed trapper hat. The other gem was blue. She stood in a dress with a long hairstyle that covered her one eye. The two stared at Lion, who at this point was so confused that he wasn't sure how to react. The animal saw that he was outnumbered by strangers and ran to the other side of the room quickly in a fright. He glanced back as he stood as far away as possible. The blue gem began to speak.  
"I think we scared him Ruby."  
"Isn't he supposed to be like…king of the jungle or something? Lions are supposed to be pretty brave right?" The red gem seemed somewhat annoyed that this gigantic beast could be so cowardly.  
"Not necessarily. Sometimes bravery is mistaken for ignorance. He's just being cautious." The blue gem droned.  
Sapphire crouched down on her knees, and held out her hand gently. "Come now. Don't be afraid…"

Lion began to approach the gem with caution. He still wasn't quite sure what to think of these new strangers in his house. As the creature got closer he sniffed at Sapphire's hand. "That's it! Just a little more…" The lion stood in place. Should he trust this new person?

"GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!" Ruby was tired of waiting. Surprised at the yell, the feline ran off to his original spot. He stared at Ruby with fear. Sapphire stood up and turned toward the red gem.  
"Why can't you be more patient Ruby? I almost had the creature's trust."  
"You were taking too long! Lions are fierce! You've gotta show them who's boss! Be brave! Like THIS!"

Ruby brazenly stormed toward the creature. Lion felt a surge of panic as the gem approached. He crawled as close to the wall as he could.  
"Hey CAT! GET OVER HERE!" Ruby pointed at the ground as she gave the animal the most intimidating stare a Ruby could muster.  
"RRARRLL!" Lion swiped at Ruby, not hitting her, but certainly making the gem topple over in surprise. The feline than bolted up the stairs, and glared at the two gems from the loft.  
"I tried to warn you…" Sapphire stated as she helped Ruby to her feet.  
"STUPID LION! WHEN I GET UP THERE-"  
"Ruby. Please try to calm down. You're going to destroy the house." Sapphire pointed casually at the wooden floor which had two new scalded foot prints on it. Ruby jumped quickly, giving a small squeak as she attempted to stop the floor from burning through. She casually put a towel that had been left behind over the spot in hopes that no one would notice. "Well NOW what?" Ruby was frustrated.  
Sapphire replied: "Perhaps we should try a different approach."  
The blue gem calmly shifted over to the refrigerator, and grabbed a small piece of meat from the inside. "We could use this to gain his trust again."  
"That's a GREAT idea!" Ruby snagged the meat out of Sapphire's hand and began to wave it above her head like a flag. "HEY LION! LOOK WHAT I GOT!"

The animal retreated slightly at the increase of the noise. Only the very tip of his head was now visible from the ground floor. Sapphire giggled slightly.  
"Let me show you." She gently took the steak out of Ruby's hand and easily ripped it into two pieces. She handed one side to the red gem. "Now watch me."

Sapphire slowly walked up the stairs. Lion quickly turned his attention to her. He readied a jump in case it would be necessary. Once the blue gem got to the top of the loft, she didn't approach the cat, but simply sat down on the floor, and placed the steak at her feet.  
For a few seconds, nothing happened.  
The lion's curiosity began to peak as he glared at the meat on the floor. Ever so slowly, the animal began to approach the gem again. He seemed much more interested in the food than Sapphire herself. Lion got close enough to sniff at the steak directly in front of her. Sapphire slowly brought her hand to his forehead as he bowed down. As her hand touched, he jolted slightly- not because of fear, but because Sapphire's hand was freezing. He eventually shifted back and the blue gem scratched him behind his ear affectionately.

"You see? You just have to be gentle. Most wild Earth creatures don't like to be pet like this."

Ruby looked at Sapphire with inspiration. The red gem nodded, and smiled nervously as she also began to walk up the stairs. Lion immediately backed away from Sapphire and glared at Ruby. He bared his teeth and gave a low warning growl.  
"I don't know if this is a good idea…"  
"Just take it slowly, like I did."

As the red gem got to the top of the loft, Lion backed away as far as he could again. Ruby sat next to Sapphire, and put her steak on the floor. She noticed that her nerves had gotten the best of her on the way up. The piece of meat she held was now slightly cooked.  
Ruby followed Sapphire's example and stayed perfectly still.  
It took much longer for Lion to re-approach the duo. He seemed to trust Sapphire a lot more than Ruby- especially after her little temper tantrum.  
Eventually the cat came around and began to edge closer. Perhaps the fact that Ruby had become nervous was a good thing. Her steak smelled much more interesting than the other more frozen one. The creature shifted forward and began to sniff at the food. Ruby looked at Sapphire in amazement. She whispered: "What should I do now?"

"Pet him, but slowly." Sapphire whispered back.

Ruby creeped her hand out. Lion gazed at her and gave another warning growl. The red gem stopped, frightened that she would end up having to regenerate if she proceeded any further. The creature stared a bit longer before going back to sniffing the food. His attention briefly interrupted, Ruby took the opportunity to quickly finish her hand's journey. The cat jostled slightly, but quickly decided to lean forward. This hand was quite warm! Ruby became surprised as the large cat laid his muzzle on her hair. Lion gave off a slow gurgle sound which one might mistake as a purr if this creature wasn't a giant lion.  
"HEY! He likes me!" Ruby grinned.  
Sapphire smiled "I told you."

Some time passed before Ruby noticed that she had quite a predicament on her hands. "Um…Sapphire? I can't move..." The large cat had her anchored to the floor.  
Sapphire smiled, and stood up. The lion followed her with his gaze, and Ruby took the opportunity to get up quickly before the beast could trap her again. Sapphire looked down at the ground, and suddenly came across a troublesome realization.  
"He didn't eat the steak."

Sure enough, the steak was still there. While the creature had found it interesting, he hadn't eaten either piece.  
"Maybe he just doesn't like it uncooked?" Ruby held her piece of steak until it was well done. She presented the treat to Lion with her arms outstretched. The animal approached and sniffed the food once more. He looked at Ruby before walking behind her. He lied on her hair again, forcing her to sit down.  
"HEY! WHAT IS THIS?" Lion didn't seem to mind the yelling anymore. He sighed peacefully as the gem heated up in a slight rage.

Sapphire giggled cheerfully. "Perhaps I should try."  
She put her steak on the floor in Lion's view. The cat stared at it for a few seconds, but didn't move an inch. He gave out another gurgling sound that implied a mixture between relaxation and annoyance. "Perhaps he is not hungry?" The blue gem seemed worried.  
"Are you KIDDING ME?! He hasn't eaten anything in TWO days! He has to be starving by now!" Ruby couldn't understand why this new pet refused to eat the best meat money could buy. The red gem began to squirm underneath the lion's head. She was almost free, when the creature wrangled her back into his grasp. He bared his claws to get the point across. The large cat took it upon himself to begin grooming the gem's hair. As a cowlick formed, the red gem looked at Sapphire, desperate for assistance.

The blue gem sighed and approached the huge cat. She began to pet his back. A shiver erupted from the creature. He moved quickly, leaving a now very stunned Ruby with a frazzled hair style. The cat stared at the two in wonderment. Lion figured out that the duo could control the temperature, and had a sudden realization. The animal quickly trotted down the stairs, and looked at the gems up above. "RRROOO." he gave a low gruff, indicating he wanted them to follow.

Sapphire slowly descended the staircase with the hesitant Ruby right behind her. Lion led them to the front door, and gave another gruff noise. "Outside?" asked the blue gem. She opened the door and walked in front of the creature. Lion's plan was working perfectly! He laid down in between the door frame, panting slightly from the sudden wall of heat that had erupted from the outside area. With Sapphire in front of him, and Ruby behind him on the inside, the creature's large stature had created a barrier- both for the gems and the door.

"HEY! Your blocking the way! MOVE!" Ruby attempted to push the creature from behind with little success. "You're (grunt) going to let all the AC out!" the red gem continued to shove but the creature had planted itself. In a surprising move of stealth, Lion suddenly grabbed Sapphire into a hug careful not to use his claws this time.

"SAPPHIRE!" the terrified Ruby yelled.

"I'm fine." She responded, her mouth slightly full of lion fur.  
Ruby began to climb up on top of Lion in a desperate attempt to get to her fellow gem. Her feet once again warmed with a slight panic to the situation. Lion sighed and began to doze off. His head lowered in comfort.

Both gems stopped what they were doing for a second before realizing the obvious. "The perfect temperature..." mumbled Ruby.

Sapphire began to laugh with glee. The cat had tricked them with nothing but comforting intentions. The both of them serving as a heat and ice pack appropriate where necessary.  
"WHY, OF ALL THE LOUSEY SCHEEMING…" Ruby felt used. Her rage continuing to warm the creature from the inside of the house. Lion let out another sigh in his sleep.

\----------------

When Ruby had finally climbed her way to the front of the cat, she grabbed Sapphire's hands from Lion's hug. The small gem pulled for a few seconds before Sapphire was free. The two rolled, and toppled onto the house deck. Lion woke with a start at the loss of his comfortable place. He grunted, before retreating back inside.  
"Are you okay Sapphire?"  
"I told you before, I'm fine. Let's get back in the house."  
The two held hands as they entered the home once more.

\----------------

Lion was understandably annoyed. These two gems had ruined his plan for a perfect afternoon. He scoffed at them both as they entered.  
"You know. He seems pretty smart for a wild animal…" Sapphire thought that the creature seemed to show a magnificent amount of intelligence, despite being quite selfish.  
"Yeah, well, I think I've had enough of this for one day. What a pain he is." Ruby glanced at the creature still feeling used. "Perhaps we should call it quits? I rather not be licked again…"  
Sapphire smiled almost chuckling. Ruby smiled back. The two embraced, giving off a magnificent light once more. The Lion stared perplexed as Garnet re-appeared. "Rarrrlf?"  
The cat stood up and began pacing around the tall gem. He looked for his new friends, but could not find them. Slightly depressed, the creature sat on the floor.  
"It's ok Lion. It's still us." Garnet pet the animal's soft mane. Ever so slightly Lion recognized her sent as a strange mix between the two new gems he had seen that day.  
He made his rumbling purr-like noise, and attempted to lick Garnet's hair again.

"No." Garnet stopped him. "Not this time." Since the gem was much taller now, the lion gruffed, gave up, and proceeded to fall asleep on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> The Mane Event
> 
> \----------------
> 
> I have never written for Ruby or Sapphire before. Pretty much this chapter was done for my own amusement. I like to see how more uncommon characters would interact with each other. You very rarely (if ever) see these three together, and I wanted to try and recreate an accurate scenario.
> 
> It was only after I wrote the thing, that I realized this entire story was basically a character study, and didn't really further the plot all that much. Still so, I'm hoping you guys liked reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it…even if one would consider this chapter "filler".
> 
> \----------------
> 
> A few more things-
> 
> ~A big thank you goes out to everyone! I haven't written a fanfiction in a LOOOONG time, and feel a bit rusty. The fact that you guys are implying that I write animal characters well makes me incredibly happy! (animal characters can be difficult to capture, because you often have to write how the animal is reacting rather than what they are saying)
> 
> ~I really do appreciate all the reviews, likes, watches, bookmarks, kudos, and everything else! Every time one of you guys imply that my writing is good enough to follow, it really helps my muse. Seriously!
> 
> ~Also, a quick update- this is the last completed chapter I had on reserve (the next chapter is basically written, but needs some heavy editing, and the chapter after that has been started, but not finished).  
> Thus, I will warn you: It may take me a couple of days to catch up with myself! You guys have been so awesome, I ended up releasing three chapters in six days! (that, and I'm incredibly impatient when I get inspired to write this fast…these chapters were supposed to last two weeks! LOL!)
> 
> …and goodness knows I hope I wrote Ruby and Sapphire well. I guess there's a first for everything?
> 
> \----------------
> 
> ~Here's your added research bonuses of the day:
> 
> ~It is debated weather Lions "purr" or not. Although many large cats make a satisfied "gurgle" noise when they are contempt.
> 
> ~Lions have a really strong sense of smell. Most of the time they use it to make sure that the meat they find has not gone bad.
> 
> ~I also had to look up the official name for a "trapper hat". If you guys find pictures, you'll probably recognize the style of hat immediately.


	5. The Mane Event

Finally, the big day had arrived.

It was a Friday, but not just any Friday- the vet appointment Friday. Lion lay asleep on the floor. The three gems stared at him, not quite sure what to do.

"We could try to lift him again…" Pearl inquired.  
"Yeah. That TOTALLY worked last time." Amethyst rebutted.  
"Should we try to fuse?" Pearl looked at the creature, concerned.  
"I don't think there's any need for that." Garnet answered.

Steven had gone out for the day at the request of Garnet. She did not want him present if things went south with this entire fiasco.  
The red gem slowly shook Lion awake, trying to be as gentle as possible. Garnet figured that there was a slight chance the beast might listen to her now that they knew each other a bit better. "Hey, Lion? Time to wake up."  
The animal stared at Garnet in his half-asleep state. He let out a mighty yawn which was paired with a slight roar. Lion looked up and gave his weird gurgle-purr at the sight of familiar faces. The animal rose and sat down. He gazed around at the party wondering what could have caused this meeting of folks.  
Garnet spoke: "We need to take you to the store. I would appreciate it if you cooperated."  
Lion tilted his head in confusion.  
"Um…Garnet? Are you sure he can understand you?" Pearl inquired.  
"No. But I did wake him up. Perhaps we can coax him to the doctor now."  
"…and how do you propose we do that?"  
"Hmm…"  
Amethyst interrupted: "How about this?" She held up the ribbon toy that Steven had put in the cart at the pet store.  
"That could work." Garnet grabbed the toy and swung it once. The cat gazed at it as it fell to the floor. He gave the red gem a look of sarcasm.  
"You're doing it wrong! Like THIS!" Amethyst grabbed the toy, and began to fling it about in every direction possible. Lion's interest peaked! His eyes focused as he followed the ribbon, and soon started batting at it furiously.  
"Good! Good! Let's get him out the door!" Pearl figured the plan was flawless.

\----------------

As the gems walked toward the store, people followed the strange spectacle with shock. Some terrified folks ran at the sight of an uncaged wild animal.  
Everything was going great, until the creature's excitement and strength got the best of him.  
"RIIIIIIIPPPPP!"  
The ribbon suddenly broke free of its base. Lion had landed on top of it. His weight mixed with Amethyst's strength had caused the toy to disassemble. The creature chewed on it a bit longer before losing interest entirely. He gave a mighty grunt, and laid down in the middle of the street, exhausted and hot.  
"Well, we got him half way there. Now what?" Pearl looked toward Garnet for support.  
The red gem contemplated. Perhaps if she unfused Lion would be more willing to follow like last time? Although she really didn't enjoy unfusing even during the direst of circumstances.  
"I know how to get his energy back!" Amethyst reached into her gem and pulled out a jar of something that resembled shredded plants.  
"What is THAT?" asked Pearl.  
"It's catnip!"  
Garnet looked at the jar suspiciously. "Where did you get that Amethyst?"  
"I…erm….sorda borrowed it? From the pet store?"  
"You STOLE it?! Amethyst! We've been over this a hundred times! You can't just take stuff without paying for it!" Pearl was obviously dissatisfied.  
"Aww. Come on Pearl! I was going to take it back! (eventually…)" She mumbled the last part under her breath.  
"Well, I guess it's here NOW. I'll pay for it when we return to the store. What does this plant do exactly anyway?" Pearl inquired.  
"Yes. I am equally curious." Garnet didn't have a lot of experience with Lions, but anything that could help the situation was welcome.

"Well…it's kind of difficult to explain. It's easier just to show you..."

\----------------

There have been many mistakes made in the history of mankind. The gems had seen most of them- yet all of the stupidity could be summed up with simplistic errors. Perhaps there had been a spat over land, or some sort of conflict in opinion that could have easily been fixed over a cup of tea. There had been misinformation and rumors among humans for many years that the gems rolled their eyes at- tomatoes being poisonous, water causing disease, the existence of witches- still all of these instances could not compare to the ignorance of giving a wild lion catnip.

\----------------

Pearl and Garnet ran over the hill. The pet store was in view. Both of them were gritting their teeth and perspiring heavily. Behind them a screaming Amethyst followed with an open jar of catnip. Flakes of the plant were flying out in sporadic clouds of dust as the gem ran at full steam. Behind her was a giant, running, pink lion- eyes completely dilated, and drooling in excess as his gaze watched and followed the catnip jar with determination.  
"THERE'S THE PET STORE! THANK THE STARS!" yelled Pearl.  
"HOW ARE WE GOING TO SLOW HIM DOWN?!" Garnet was in a stage of rare panic.  
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?"  
"WE CAN'T LET HIM INTO THE STORE LIKE THIS! HE'LL DISTROY EVERYTHING!"  
"WELL DON'T LOOK AT ME! THIS ENTIRE SCENARIO COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF WE DIDN'T HAVE A LION IN THE FIRST PLACE! I TRIED TO WARN YOU…"  
"WAIT! I HAVE AN IDEA!" The red gem stopped suddenly, and turned around quickly so that she could face the beast. Amethyst ran past Garnet in a panic wondering why on Earth she had frozen in place. The animal charged toward her in his crazed state. Garnet's hands glowed and formed gauntlets. She held the two weapons in front, as the creature landed on top of her, scratching and drooling in confusion. Her teeth gritted as the weight of the animal heaved against her strength. In a quick change of stance, the gem managed to put a large bubble around the cat.  
Slightly shocked, Lion stopped struggling and stared at the new sphere surrounding him in amazement. Garnet let out a sigh. Surely this technique was the best she could do on such short notice without harming the creature and vice-versa.  
Lion looked around before spotting Amethyst through the bubble. He had remembered that she was carrying something he liked a lot, although he wasn't quite sure what it was exactly.

The three gems were relieved that the danger was over as they headed toward the pet store.

Lion's sight followed Amethyst. His eyes suddenly became dilated again.

There was a low rumbling noise coming from behind the trio. The three aliens turned their heads slowly, only to realize that the lion was charging right for them again- only this time he was completely covered by a nearly indestructible bubble. Garnet's plan had failed, and she realized that they had essentially created the perfect battering ram.

The three of them ran into the store quickly. Lion didn't even bother using the automatic door. He ran through a glass window shattering it to pieces. The only good thing that came out of this was the fact that he had landed among the shopping carts which slowed the creature's progress for a couple of seconds. The gems ran into the store panting heavily. Every employee and shopper stared at the trio in bewilderment wondering what on earth could have made these people so scared. Garnet saw the inevitable.  
"EVERYONE RUN TO THE BACK ROOM!" she shouted as loud as she could. She didn't have to ask twice. The large beast burst through the carts with an intimidating roar.

All the humans ran toward the employee room in the back of the store in a quickened fright. The odd situation of having a giant pink feline in essentially what was a hamster ball didn't seem to raise any questions from the panicked stampede.  
"RRROOOOAARRR!" Lion let out a sonic roar which toppled over several shelves of pet supplies. Screams could be heard from the customers and employees as heavy bags of food rained down upon them.

The birds began to squawk in fear as the din became closer. Lion spotted several cages full of rodents. He quickly ran toward the interesting small animals. The good news was that he couldn't attack any of them through the bubble, the bad news is that the cages toppled under his weight. With various sounds of broken glass and pounding metal, the boxes opened. Dozens of mice, ferrets, hamsters, and guinea pigs ran in every direction in an attempt to avoid the chaos. Pearl screamed as a mouse quickly ran over her foot. "COME ON PEARL! NO TIME FOR THAT!" Amethyst grabbed the stunned gem and continued sprinting as fast as she could.

As Lion ran through the aisles almost everything was completely destroyed. Birds flew, fish tanks exploded causing a huge rush of water to flood the store. In the reptile area crickets. lizards and snakes were released in a barrage of scales and fur. A dog ran into a cat tree in hopes of avoiding injury.

The gems and humans locked themselves in the back room when they were sure everyone was accounted. Immediately, the panicked crowd began asking questions that would sound obscure in any other situation.  
"Was that a LION?"  
"Was it pink?"  
"How did it get in here?"  
"-maybe escaped from the circus?"  
"What does it want?"

Amethyst suddenly remembered something. She unlocked the door in a hurry. "AMETHYST! WHAT ARE YOU-?" Pearl got cut off quickly. Amethyst threw the jar of catnip outside the room, not unlike someone would throw a grenade. The lion quickly approached the jar and sniffed at it wildly. He began to attempt to roll on top of it through his bubble. The purple gem quickly re closed the door and locked it as fast as she could. She sighed before smiling, facing the bewildered crowd.  
"Look it worked! I got Lion here safe and sound!"  
The people stared at her with a perplexed look of disbelief and rage.  
"What?" Amethyst shrugged, looking somewhat guilty.

\----------------

It took sometime before the panic was calmed. In the tussle, several people had called 911, which had brought the attention of quite a few police officers and firemen. The ASPCA and animal control were also called in to handle the situation involving the escaped and injured animals.

The entire thing was a grade A mess- a real conundrum. Lion had been tranquilized, and was now being carried out of the store on an animal stretcher. He would be taken care of at a local zoo.  
The rowdy Amethyst had been forcefully handcuffed, as well as Garnet who decided it would be better to cooperate with law enforcement then to cause a strife.  
Pearl was shrouded in a blanket, slightly traumatized and shivering. The officers had decided not to handcuff her. She looked like she was having a panic attack, and didn't seem to be an immediate threat to the situation.  
As stories and perspectives were collected, it was clear that the same people that had saved the crowd, were also the cause of it.

"Alright. The lion is secure. He will be taken to the nearby zoo and cared for. You really should have called us when the wild animal approached your house. It's unwise to keep a creature this size."  
"Yes. Certainly officer. We appreciate your quick response." Garnet knew for a fact that messing with any human authority was a bad idea. The gems could have easily overpowered them, but she had learned over time that the humans outnumbered them easily. She was not in the mood to be "on the lamb" again. There had been way too many instances in history that the three of them had been shunned from various locations due to their strange abilities.  
"I'm glad we got here when we did. You said you found him in that pink color?"  
"Yes."  
"Poor thing. His fur was most likely dyed that color by a crazy collector. It would explain why he was so social, too. Probably someone's abandoned exotic pet.

Garnet seriously doubted this considering they found him in the middle of a desert, but said nothing to the matter.

"We're going to have to take you three in for questioning at the station. It's standard procedure. The pet shop is pressing charges for the damages to their store. You will be allowed one phone call." The officer then read the trio their rights, and lured them to the back of the police car. Garnet went in willingly, Pearl seemed to be in a state of shock, and it took three additional officers to shove the struggling Amethyst into the vehicle. As the car zoomed away, lights flashing, the crowd of humans was left to clean up the trail of destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Law of the Jungle
> 
> \----------------
> 
> Ok…so I have some good news and some bad news.
> 
> If you're reading this on AO3, you've probably noticed that I have changed the chapter length of this story to 7. If you are reading this on FF…well…I kinda just told you the news…didn't I?  
> Ok…so now for some GOOD news! The story is basically finished! I have written the last two chapters, and need to edit them, but YEAH! Almost done!
> 
> So here's the other OTHER news! I wanted to ask you guys if anyone would be interested in a sequel to this series? It would be more of a compilation of short stories than a full-length one, but it would allow Lion to interact with more characters from the show!  
> I was originally planning on writing these one shots for this tale, but figured putting them in an unrelated short story format would be preferable, considering they didn't tie in to the plot all that much.  
> It would be like a whole bunch of chapter 4's strung together! So if you guys liked the Ruby and Sapphire chapter, you might like this too!
> 
> I want to see how many people would actually be interested in reading more stories about Lion. If you guys would like to see them, give a shout!
> 
> \----------------
> 
> Ok...let's see...facts for this chapter!
> 
> ~Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous in ye' olden days because people would eat them off of lead-painted plates and get sick afterward. This is also where the whole "throwing tomatoes at bad stage actors" thing came from. People would chuck the "poisonous fruit" at an actor in hopes of encouraging them off the stage with death.
> 
> ~When transporting an unconscious lion to a medical facility, you can either use an animal stretcher, or a large tarp. Either way, it's going to take approximately 4-8 people to lift the heavy beast.
> 
> ~...and YES. Catnip DOES effect lions!


	6. Law of the Jungle

A sharp pain hit his side.

Lion suddenly became conscious, but only slightly. Something had poked him hard in the stomach. His head hurt. He remembered playing with a toy while walking down the road. The purple creature had presented him with a jar of something.  
After that….  
….after that everything was a fog. He couldn't remember. Where was he? What had happened? Another sharp poke resulted in a warning growl. He suddenly saw people all around him. They all backed away with scared looks on their faces. Lion attempted to move, but couldn't even shift his paws. He did successfully manage to stick out his tongue, which was not the result he wanted.  
A human in a white coat suddenly appeared with a strange plastic cup. In surprise Lion attempted to back away as the cup was attached to his nose with a string. He suddenly felt very tired. Perhaps these people were nice? They had made him comfortable and sleepy. He dozed off once more.

\----------------

The creature's eyes slowly opened. He could smell plants. He was in a different place now. Lion attempted to move, but found that his body wasn't cooperating at all. As his sight focused, he spied something large and grey - a wall? Surely there must be some reason why this massive wall was here. Perhaps he was being protected by something?

Lion lay in the grass. A few trees surrounded him. He attempted to move again, and made a few steps before falling over. The creature looked up and saw a large amount of humans staring down at him from the top of the wall. Lion howled in hopes that someone would assist him, but no one volunteered.  
"raaa."  
A small familiar sound made the animal twitch. He slowly turned and met eyes with a yellow, smaller, mane-less, version of himself.  
"raaa!"  
A small lion cub had located the big cat, and took advantage of his immobility. The baby climbed on Lion's side, and proceeded to tug on one of his ears. "RRRRRRR!" Lion gave an instant roar that indicated a fraction of annoyance.  
"raaa…." The cub toppled over and walked away, not really wanting to play with an old sleepy adult anyway. On the journey back, Lion could see that the baby had found a butterfly to occupy his time.

Where were his friends? The creature didn't see them among the crowd of humans at the top of the wall. He hoped they would come for him soon. He was very scared and confused.

\----------------

Pearl was in shambles. In less than a week she had gone from a perfectly law abiding citizen, to a convict in a jail cell. The gem couldn't understand how she had allowed events to evolve this badly. Amethyst of course, was not helping the situation at all. The purple gem found the entire scenario slightly funny, and yelled constant insults and rude things to every cop that dared get in her line of sight. Garnet had gone to make their "one phone call". She decided to call Greg. He wouldn't be able to help them get out (they were on no bail), but at least he could watch Steven and let the boy know what was going on.  
The call was forcibly short, and the tall gem soon returned to join her family in the barred cell. She held a look of disdain on her face.  
"WELL? What did he say?" Pearl was hoping Steven would take the news as well as he could.  
Garnet responded: "Steven is understandably upset, but Greg has agreed to take care of him until further notice."

The problem wasn't so much that the gems were in trouble- and they very much were- the bigger issue was that none of them had a driver's license, or social security card, or any identification on them for that matter. Not one of the prisoners seemed to recall the exact date of their birth. They kept going on about how the rotation of some place called "Homeworld" was completely different than "Earth Years". All the cops were baffled, stunned. They all figured the lot had come from a looney bin somewhere. Amethyst tried to explain between profanities that she was, in fact an "Earth citizen", and could prove it by showing them her "Kindergarten". This made as little sense to the police as anything. Pearl also attempted to explain:

"To put it in terms you Earthlings can understand…we're basically sentient "rocks" from another planet. We've lived here for thousands of years alongside your evolutionary cycle."  
This comment did not help what-so-ever. In fact, it convinced the police that Pearl was probably the craziest of the bunch, but not by much. The three gems now sat in their cell, defeated by the sheer linguistics of human logic.

Garnet was reminded of being stuck in the same situation during the middle ages. The consistent barrage of monsters and super-advanced technology had not amused the king at the time. They had only been able to escape after many weeks of the black plague ravishing the entire town, leaving the three of them pretty much the only survivors.

Garnet shuddered at the memory of seeing so many fallen innocents after escaping her cell. Truly those were dark times for everyone.  
Amethyst spotted Garnet's concern, and attempted to console her. "Don't worry Garnet. This won't be like last time! I mean, humans don't even use leeching anymore- at least, I don't think they do…"  
Her comment did not aid Garnet's mood at all. "I'm more concerned about Steven. He cannot defend himself if something bad happens." She turned toward Amethyst clearly upset. There was a slight pause between the two.  
"IS something bad going to happen?" Amethyst's mood immediately changed. Garnet concentrated at the wall: "I…am not sure."

\----------------

Lion slowly found his sea legs. He was now able to walk at a wobbly trot. The animal strutted around the wall, searching for an exit and some water. As the cat walked, he came across the same tree he had seen before! That couldn't be right…  
The pink feline trudged around the giant wall's border again. The tree reappeared. What was going on?

Lion made his way into the middle of the enclosure. The creature discovered (with a bit of disgust) the cub wading through the only small pool of water he had come across. It was obvious that the young one was not aware this was meant for drinking. The baby was chasing the butterfly in the pool, and getting the water all murky with his muddy paws in the process.  
Lion let out an annoyed low growl, which immediately captured the attention of the cub once again.  
Raaa!"  
The rowdy child clumsily climbed out of the pool and eagerly approached the adult. Perhaps he wanted to play again? It had been a long time since the small one had seen another lion. He remembered his mother laying asleep on a dusty plain. The cub had tried to wake her up for a long time, but was unsuccessful. The humans had found him and taken him here. He wondered when his mother would wake up from her nap, and pick him up? Certainly it would be soon. In the meantime, the people had been nice to him, giving him food and water.

Still, the baby had been quite lonely, and was super exited to have some company.

"Raaa! Raa!"  
The cub approached the annoyed adult with hope in his eyes. Lion let out an annoyed moan. He really didn't want to deal with this kid right now. The little one, oblivious to the cues, bumped his small head against Lion's leg in affection. The adult looked down at the young cub who was now making the most innocent face he had ever seen. Lion sighed, and laid down. He dragged the baby toward him using his paw and began to give him a tongue bath. If nothing else, maybe he could get his feet clean so that the kid wouldn't make the water filthier than it already was.

The large creature felt embarrassed as the crowd of humans that was staring at them gave out a unison "AWWWWW!" at this common practice.

\----------------

Steven was depressed. Both the Gems and Lion were now in cages, and it was all his fault. If he hadn't suggested bringing Lion into their life in the first place, his entire family wouldn't be in this mess. His guilt must have been quite obvious, because Greg noted immediately that the boy's mood had declined.  
"Come on Steven. I know this looks bad, but everything always works out in the end! You'll see."  
"Why can't I at least visit them?"  
"Garnet said no, and when Garnet says no…well…it's usually wise to listen. Trust me on this." Greg reflected on the last time he didn't listen to Garnet and shuddered slightly at the consequences. "…besides, I don't think they want you associated with what happened at the store. It's not a good idea to start a criminal record at your age."  
Steven pouted. "Can we at least visit Lion? I'm sure he's scared…"  
"Maybe tomorrow kiddo." Greg ruffled Steven's hair. "Hey! What do ya say we have a pizza for lunch?" My treat!"  
Steven hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. Perhaps food would do him some good, even though he wasn't terribly hungry.

\----------------

A few miles away, several humans were playing on the beach, oblivious to anything that was about to happen. Underneath the sand something strange awoke from all the noise. It's green, glowing eyes suddenly opened in annoyance in its sleepy state.

A family that was working on a sandcastle became stunned as their creation began to sink into the ground. The hole began to expand and twirl, not unlike a strange whirlpool. The family fled from the spot yelling something about a "sinkhole". The screams spread quickly, and soon the entire beach was running toward the Boardwalk in a panic. The crowd looked upon the sand in horror as the swirling vortex got bigger, and began to engulf the entire area. The thing soon spread to an enormous fifty feet, before two giant cones began to emerge from the middle of the mighty whirlpool. As the odd items rose, the cones displayed a strange curl going down their mid-section. Eventually, two ears appeared and then four glowing green eyes. The odd object would have represented a giant deer head if it wasn't for the fact that the horns had small spikes all over them. The strange creature let out an angry bray which echoed across the Boardwalk. People held their ears at the giant's noise, and there was a unison shattering of glass as all the store windows caved inward.

The crowd of tourists screamed, and began to stampede in a panic. The large creature struggled to lift one of its long legs from the sand pit. A giant hoof attempted to steady itself using the concreate of the boardwalk, the heavy concentrated weight of the object creating cracks on the floor below.

The thing finally found its footing and stood in a glorious display of horror. It was a deer, or at least, it resembled a deer. The giant creature was about 60 feet in height. It had six unusually slender legs instead of its normal four. Each leg spawned a gigantic double split white hoof. The top of the creature was an orange color, and the bottom of its belly was speckled with bits of white. There were two long, twisted horns (instead of antlers), on the top of its head, which one might mistake for a pillar given their massive size. It's four green eyes scoped the beach with an intimidating stare. These things had woken it up from its peaceful slumber! The creature also had a strange gem on its left shoulder blade that a gemologist might mistake for a Carnelian Agate, if it wasn't attached to a gigantic deer monster.

The thing let out another aggravated roar, which toppled many of the fleeing tourists. A small ice cream stand didn't have a chance as it tumbled with the noise.

\----------------

"What on Earth?"

Greg had started driving Steven to the pizza place. A sudden barrage of people had appeared running from the opposite direction. The rowdy stampede ignored the van entirely, climbing around the now stationary vehicle. One spectator actually climbed on top of the windshield, and ran over the massive car in an attempt to get in front of the crowd. Both Greg and Steven yelled in surprise as the man jogged over the front window and jumped off the other side.  
"Dad? What's going on?"  
"I have no idea." Greg unrolled his window in an attempt to get some information. He called out to the people jogging past. "HEY! WHAT'S ALL THE HUBUB!?"

The only response he received was someone shouting: "RUN!" in the distance. This was followed by one of the most disturbing noises he had ever experienced. A high pitched growl made both him and his son hold their ears. The van's front and side windows suddenly shattered under the weight of the noise, creating a storm of glass that rained upon the duo.  
"STEVEN! ARE YOU OK?"  
"I'm fine dad."  
"You don't have any cuts, do you?"  
"No."  
"Let's get out of here! The pizza will have to wait." Greg put his vehicle in reverse quickly, and was ready to drive off, when a large ice cream stand completely battered the side of the van, and made it tip. After a few moments of his ears buzzing, Steven could see his dad reaching for him through the car window. The boy gripped onto his father's hand in desperation, before being pulled out of the totaled car. The two of them were a bit scuffed up and slightly bruised, but otherwise ok.  
Greg stood there surveying the damage to his vehicle. "Wow. That was intense. I'm glad you're okay Steven." He turned to his son and embraced him. He paused looking at the car again. "Do you think the insurance company will pay for this?"  
The boy appreciated his father trying to make light of the odd situation, but didn't have time to respond with anything but an: "Um…dad?"

The beast was standing directly behind them. Its massive size made Steven's pupils small in shock. The monster let out another roar as it faced the father and son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> The Tail End
> 
> \----------------
> 
> One more chapter to go! Goodness gracious! Are you guys excited about the sequel series? I know I am!  
> So, the research I did for this chapter was rather gruesome (to say the least). Case in point:
> 
> ~Had to watch a LOT of videos of vets working on Lions, and how they get the big cats to fall asleep during checkups.  
> ~Unfortunately, Amethyst is not entirely correct. Some people STILL practice leeching (mostly during surgeries)  
> ~During the Middle Ages, the Black Plague had several "cures" including:
> 
> -Leeching  
> -Moving into underground sewers  
> -…and drinking 2 cups of your own urine a day (WHY?!)
> 
> ~Antlers have branches. Horns normally consist of only one piece each.  
> ~Baby lions are cute…although I don't think I needed research to find that out...LOL!


	7. The Tail End

Lion's ears perked at the sound of a loud noise in the far off distance. The animal interrupted the cub's bath in order to try to see what had made the din. Something was not right. He could feel it.  
"Raaa?" The cub looked at the adult lion, confused at the change in attitude.  
"Gruff." Lion clamped the cub gently in his mouth, and hid him among the trees. The large creature found some giant leaves and twigs nearby and brushed them over the baby in an attempt to camouflage.  
"reee?" The cub was scared.  
"Raa." Lion answered. He licked the youngster one last time before turning into the opposite direction. He let out a giant roar, and the sudden portal resulted in a collaborated gasp among the human spectators. Lion quickly jumped into the round door, before disappearing entirely.  
"reee?" The cub was clearly scared, but stayed in place as his new friend had instructed.

\----------------

A strange sound caused a sudden rumbling in the police station. The officers quickly clung to surrounding objects as the building's structure swayed. "What on Earth?" one of the cops questioned the slight tremor, as it stopped as quickly as it had started. "What was THAT? An earthquake?"

After being jostled a bit, both Amethyst and Pearl looked toward Garnet in an attempt to get a response.  
"It's here." Was all the red gem could muster. Garnet looked down at her team, and nodded with determination. She yelled toward the officers. "HEY!"  
The men and women of the police department stared at the gem in surprise. "I would get going. There might be a lot of people that need your help."  
"…and what would YOU know about it weirdo?"  
Garnet gave the cop a look of frustration, before grinning from ear to ear. "I know enough. I'm sorry we have to do this. We'll come back later, if you want."  
"(not me.)" mumbled Amethyst.  
Garnet then proceeded to make her hands glow. The shining light faded and reveled gauntlets. One of the cops shouted: "SHE HAS A WEAPON!". The police force immediately drew their guns in case this woman decided to use brute force to get her way.  
Instead, the tallest gem punched several holes in the cell's wall. Dust flew, and surrounded the cops, slightly obscuring their view of this odd situation. One of the police men coughed, and brushed his eyes with his arm right before seeing the three prisoners quickly exit through the make-shift door. The last one out was Garnet. As she began to leave the building, the cop yelled: "WAIT! What are you doing?"  
She stopped, only for a second, before turning to the police man, and giving the biggest smile she could muster. "Saving the world." The gem waved in a friendly manner, before disappearing from the man's view entirely.

\----------------

Steven and his father stared up at the giant creature with terror in their eyes. The large deer lifted one of its front legs, readying to stomp the family into a pancake. The small one had a gem- certainly he was the cause for disturbing her slumber?

The large hoof hurried toward the ground. Greg hugged Steven, and attempted to protect him by shielding the boy with his body. Perhaps there was a small chance that this act of kindness would be enough for his only child to be saved. The two winced in anticipation, but nothing happened. Instead of being crushed to death by a giant deer hoof, a loud scream could be heard coming from the beast. Greg opened one eye. The large deer was backing away quickly as one of Pearl's spears made contact with the massive leg.  
"PEARL!" Greg yelled in surprise as the gem stood in front of the duo, creating a barrier between them and the beast. She reached for her gem, and proceed to pull out another spear. She twirled it with grace, before facing the deer in an attack stance. "Sorry we're late." She stated simply, as she smiled at Greg's shocked face. "Get Steven to a safe place."  
"R-right. Come on Steven!" Greg grabbed his son quickly before jaunting away from the massive creature as fast as possible.  
"Aww…I wanna help…"  
"By almost getting crushed again?! No thank you!" Greg knew this was beyond both of their expertise. The safest thing to do at this point would be to retreat, and stay as far away from the gems as possible until they had finished their job.

\----------------

The deer looked down at Pearl in a rage. It was because of her that the small one had gotten away. The monster roared at her. Pearl gritted her teeth, and quickly stuck her spear in the ground. She clung on with desperation as the sound wave attempted to throw her.  
"-HEY BAMBI!"  
The creature stopped roaring and turned to another purple gem that had appeared from behind. Amethyst grabbed two spiky whips from her glowing gem. She snapped them with determination. "Let's dance."

The giant deer ran toward Amethyst in a blind charge. The purple gem jumped well above the beast, before cracking her whips again. The ropes curled quickly around the creatures two horns. With a mighty tug, the deer let out a groan, and reared in surprise. Its head was now captured in a spider web of manipulation. Amethyst clung to her weapons, and attempted to control the creature's movements using her improvised reins. The beast swayed with uncertainty, before bucking its head into the ground. The sudden movement knocked Amethyst off the deer in surprise.

The monster thought it had defeated its foe, until it realized that its horns were planted into the ground. The creature stood, struggling to get free for a few seconds. That was all the time Garnet needed. She charged toward the massive beast. Her hands glowed into gauntlets again. With a mighty punch, she managed to hit the creature on its side.

The deer howled with rage, as its horns suddenly came free from the weight of earth below.

The three gems stood ready for the next move as the creature stumbled backwards.

"WAAAAHHH!"  
A sudden wail caught Amethyst's attention. She spotted a toddler who had become misplaced from his family among the chaos. He sat on the ground wailing as the giant deer trudged toward him, quite unaware of what was happening.  
"Ah jeez! Garnet! Throw me!" Amethyst begged the tall gem. She didn't have to ask twice, as the large gem lifted her easily, and quickly threw her toward the small human. Amethyst created another whip from her gem and used it to grapple the child quickly, literal seconds before the young one got crushed by a giant deer hoof. She covered the child as best she could, as the two of them crashed to the ground.

The beast shook itself, and looked back toward Amethyst in surprise. She had just used her life to save an Earth creature. The deer knew she couldn't take on these three, but perhaps she could get them to destroy themselves. The beast groaned in triumph.

A crowd of humans could be seen running in the distance. The beast ignored the gems entirely, and began to gallop toward the stampede of small creatures. The gems stared in shock for a second, before realizing what the animal was planning. Garnet gritted her teeth in a rage, before chasing after the massive creature as quickly as she could muster. The deer was very fast however, and was outrunning the fusion quite easily.

The humans screamed at the realization that the beast had refocused its concentration on maiming as many of them as possible. Some people hid beneath rubble, while others attempted to run faster. The entire situation seemed completely hopeless for the large crowd. The creature was almost on top of them. Garnet stopped knowing there was no way she could outrun the animal. Amethyst re-collected with Pearl, the two of them facing away and covering the poor toddler's traumatized face from the carnage that was inevitable…

"ROOOOOAAAAARRRR!"  
Lion suddenly appeared in front of the crowd of humans. His loud sonic roar shocked the monster into a jump. The creature bounded over the crowd in a panic. People looked up in amazement as the beast unintentionally missed every single one of them. The deer landed with a "THUD!" that shook the ground like an earthquake. All the humans toppled over before slowly gazing toward the pink lion.  
The cat stood majestically. He gave a triumphant grunt. The pink wonder had made it just in the nick of time. He stared at the large deer with determination. The beast stared back at this new threat.  
Lion lowered his head and gave a warning growl as the gigantic monster began to rear. The deer charged toward the people again. Lion charged as well. There was no way he was going to let this weird thing destroy any of these "Steven friends".  
The cat ran and pounced suddenly.  
"CHOMP!"  
He clamped his mighty jaw onto one of the deer's legs. With a painful bleat, the monster changed its direction in an attempt to shake the lion off. The feline clung, despite being shaken every which way.  
At this point, the gems had finally caught up with the situation. The three looked in amazement as Lion single-handedly sent the animal into a fear.  
"WHOO! GO LION!" Amethyst rooted for the cat.  
"We've got to help him." Garnet was not sure how the animal had escaped the zoo, but felt grateful that he had saved so many lives.  
The three gems nodded, and charged toward the giant in unison. Pearl managed to throw one of her spears onto one of the Lion-free legs. The creature tripped over itself and landed hard on the ground. Garnet quickly ran up to the deer and punched it directly in the eye. The beast screamed, becoming temporarily blind. Lion began to climb on the animal using his talons. He put another successful bite on the creature's shoulder. Amethyst saw an opportunity. With Lion out of the way she formed another whip from her gem. She snapped it, and quickly tied the giant's legs together. With one final punch from Garnet, the monster let out a wail, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. An orange gemstone left behind fell to the soft earth below. Pearl approached it and bubbled the stone quickly, before it could regenerate. She tapped the bubble, and what was left of the creature disappeared.

\----------------

The aftermath was somewhat chaotic.  
Several ambulances arrived to take away the injured. People seemed either traumatized or grateful as they left the scene while being questioned.

The cops arrived soon after, just in time to see Amethyst reunite the lost toddler with his mother. The destruction was even worse than the scene they had faced at the pet store, but the atmosphere was very different. People were now praising the weirdos for being heroic, plus the pink lion! Lion? How did he get back here? Did these "aliens" set him free? The people informed the cops that the cat seemed to "appear out of nowhere" and had scared "the giant thing" away. He had saved them all, and the police couldn't even negotiate with the citizens when they suggested sending him back to the zoo.  
"He protected us! He's not dangerous, he's a HERO!"  
"Okay…okay…sheesh." This entire day had been a mess, and truthfully the cops just wanted to go home without further strife.  
Garnet approached the chief. "Should we go back with you then?"  
The crowd immediately booed in unison to try to persuade the police man to reconsider his stance on the subject. He wasn't sure what to do. The pet store was still filing charges, and he couldn't just let these folks go under good intentions, it was unlawful.

A compromise was made.

\----------------

Steven had made it back to the temple fine. He bit his lip. His dad was sitting next to him, of course, but he couldn't help but feel frightened for the rest of his family. What if they never came home? What if they had to go back to the police station?

"AWW MAN! I can't believe we have to do community service…" The boy suddenly heard a familiar Amethyst voice trailing up the stairs to the house.  
Pearl approached the door. "Now Amethyst, I think it was a fair trade. We did create quite a mess after all…"  
"Yeah, but the WHOLE TOWN?! We didn't destroy HALF of what that deer thing did…"  
Pearl opened the door, and was surprised when an eager Steven hugged her so hard, that she almost toppled over.  
"YOU'RE OK! YOU'RE BACK! I missed you guys so much!" The boy began to cry with joy.  
"Jeez Steven. We weren't gone THAT long. Get ahold of yourself little man." Amethyst ruffled his hair.  
"I've got another surprise for you." Garnet who was standing behind the party gave a grin. She quickly stood to the side, revealing the majestic lion.  
"LION! YOU'RE HERE TOO?!" The excited Steven was overwhelmed with joy. "Garnet! You're the BEST!"  
"Garnet? But wait a minute, Garnet didn't decide - " Pearl started but got quickly interrupted with the red gem giving Steven a hug. The two walked into the house together. Pearl huffed. "How come SHE gets all the credit for Lion? She didn't do ANYTHING!"  
"Let it go P." Amethyst answered bluntly.  
The two remaining gems, and the large cat entered the home.

The family was back together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was quite a journey!  
> I would once again like to thank all of my followers, reviewers, and fans for the wonderful feedback to this story! You guys are awesome sauce!  
> Unfortunately, I didn't have to do any research for this chapter…it's just what happens when I let my brain write action sequences. I guess watching action films would be the research for this one?
> 
> So…yeah. You guys probably have some questions. What happened to the lion cub? Why did Lion refuse to eat the steak? Will Lion ever meet a fusion? What about Peridot?  
> Well, you're in luck! I'm already working on the promised sequel. Three chapters have been written but not edited, so it's well in development at this point. Most likely I'll start posting it within the next 2 weeks (probably sooner). Keeping with the Beatles' theme (Beatles music is awesome) the sequel will be titled:
> 
> "Cub Together"  
> (because every title I write has to be a pun…it is law)
> 
> In the meantime, I actually wrote an unannounced Steven Universe one-shot last Friday titled "The Fifth Element". It clocks in at less than 1,000 words, but if you want something amusing (and slightly humorous) while you wait for the sequel, there's that too!
> 
> Anyway, thanks again for reading! Hope to hear from you guys soon!


End file.
